The Straggler: Opposing Fate
by He-Who-Holmes
Summary: Matthew Warren just wants to survive in the apocalyptic world he was born in. Howver, after receiving a pretty strange dream. Things just start falling apart. More than it already has. Can he hold on, and protect those close to him? Or will he be just another life taken in this world of pain and strife. (Mild language and Graphic Violence.)


(AN: I came up with this character through a random character generator…..at least his appearance...I came up with the name.)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last of Us. If I did however, It would have ended much more differently. Possibly much more bitterly. Although the current ending is still good. But, I digress, I still don't own it.

 **My name is Matthew Warren. Although, you can just call me Matt.**

 **I was born in, 2018. I am at the age of 15. I stand at the height of 5'4, which I've been told is short for my age, always was a late bloomer, I guess. I have a thin almost scrawny frame, not exactly a bruiser or strongman. I have short light brown hair. I have big blue eyes. I have fair skin, more or less.**

 **I was born with a heart condition, if you will. I don't have the best stamina to be honest. If I did run long enough, I'd probably end up collapsing from exhaustion while barely being able to breath. Also, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a pretty big whiner to. I know exactly when it's time to quit.**

 **I live with a group of Hunter's. Funny thing about that though, my mom is sorta the group…... _stress reliever, I say that loosely_. If a guy is feeling a little frisky, they just go to her. I hope you understand what I'm implying right now. To top it all off, I honestly don't know who my dad is. My guess is the leader, since he visits her the most. What a father figure that guy is, not my ideal choice.**

 **So…..I'm what you would call a bastard son.**

 **The only gift that I ever gotten from my "family" was a pair of goggles. They were mostly composed of the color black. They had a grey band with a white lace to keep them together with green tinted lenses. My Mom had found them for me once and I treasured them ever since. Some of the other member's had even given me a nickname, Straggler. Since I would always fall behind or stray away from the group.**

 **So, while a few members of the group think I'm annoying or a hindrance, I still feel like I belong here. Not like I have much of a choice in the matter anyway. I'm just the runt of the litter in everyone's eyes.**

 **Not to stroke my own ego or anything, I personally think I'm gifted with a bow. I main choice of firearms is a 9mm pistol, not really into the bigger guns. Last time I used a shotgun, I ended up getting blasted halfway across a room. Never again. Plus, I think their quick and effective to.**

 **I guess you could say that i'm what you would call…..a dreamer, if anything. My mom would tell me old tales of what the world looked like before the outbreak. I guess you could say that I got hooked on the idea of it. It sounded so amazing and breath taking.**

 **I dream of finding out what's out there in the world. Then after all that, settling down in my own personal paradise. With a beautiful wife and kid of my own… but with the way things are now…..I don't see any of that happening. But, that doesn't mean that I still can't dream of it happening now, can I? So, now only one of my dreams can come true.**

 **But, a major dream I've always had… or a goal I should say. Is that I just want to be someone that others know that they can depend on. I want to be seen as a useful person. A respected kind of guy. Someone that everyone can be proud of. But, with the way things are, that doesn't seem likely either, huh?**

 **So, once again, I am Matthew Warren. Dreamer, straggler, quitter, lover, bastard, scavenger, but most of all a survivor.**

 **Now, with the formalities out of the way, time to tell you my story**

 ***DREAM SEQUENCE***

 _I was alone._

 _I had no idea where the hell I was. But all I knew was that I was alone._

 _It was dark, cold and empty._

 _I looked around and I seemed to be in a room. It was just empty, destitute, nothing was there besides the walls keeping it together._

 _Suddenly, two doors had appeared out of thin air on opposite sides of the room. They were identical, except one had a doorknob while the other had nothing._

 _Then, my body started to move towards the door with the knob. I couldn't move any other way. My body just wouldn't budge._

 _When I touched the door knob it felt ice cold._

 _I slowly open the door and see a group of silhouettes in the distance in which seems to be a bleak, gray dull world. Somehow, the grass and even the trees were gray. As I get closer, I see who they really are._

 _I see every member of my group near each other._

 _Starting with the leader, Noland Thomas. He's a real great leader, not gonna lie. But a real dick to be with. Also, my main criticiser in the bunch. He's even responsible for my nickname, Straggler. Basically, he is the exact example of someone having a stick shoved up their ass since birth. He was a 38 year old man. Roughly around six feet two inch tall, with a pretty muscular build, with grey eyes as well as jet black hair. He doesn't really talk about himself that much._

 _Next to him, was Tabatha Jameson. The girl closest to my age. She was 18 years old. Standing at five feet six inches. With auburn hair and hazel eyes. She was pretty slender as well. One thing I would always do was hit on her. Of course, she didn't think much of me, mostly like a little brother as she said. But I wasn't really into her either. Just for giggles to be honest. I mean if I tried, I could probably get her...I'm a real casanova, apparently. Something she would always call me._

 _Next to her was the leaders lapdog, cleaning a rifle was Wade Wilson, He was the right hand man of Noland. I can't stand that guy at all. He completely sides with Noland for everything. Does he have an ounce of free will at all. Whenever Noland felt like critiquing me, I would expect Wade to back up everything he had platinum blonde hair in a buzzcut, and green eyes, he was 29 years old and stood at five foot eleven inches, with a average build. I disgusts me, the thought of him plowing my Mother._

 _Tieing what seemed to be his shoe, seated next to Wade was Eli Travers, probably one of the nicest people of the group to me, though he still calls me Straggler. He never used my mom for service, I guess he's with Tabatha. He was 24 years old, he stands at five foot eight inches, with a slim build, he has ocean blue eyes, he also had chestnut colored hair. He also had a pump action shotgun strapped to his back, how does a he not get blasted away by that? He wont tell me, or anyone else. Ancient secret is what he would always say._

 _Then, leaning against a wall beside everyone was Troy Sawyer. He was a pretty weird guy if anything. He was so quiet and seemed to be always thinking. I don't think he likes to be around any of us that much. But, he still says there's strength in numbers. So he probably just want's to play it safe. He still listens to the Noland though. He was 45 years old, making him the oldest. He stands at six foot five inches, making him the tallest of the group, with greying hair, and dull blue eyes. He can be super aggressive when he's in a fight. I would hate to get on this guys bad side, so I mostly steer clear of him. It scares me that my Mother and him may have had sex…_

 _Lastly, talking to Noland, was my Mother, Serena Warren. She was 32 years old. She stood at five feet three inches, making her the shortest of the group. With long light brown hair, reaching down to her back, with blue eyes. She was slim and very delicate looking. So, she didn't really go out scavenging that much. She would never call me by my nickname, it sounded degrading as she put it. She loved to call me Mattie, it was more fitting for me she said. She just did most of the cooking and care taking… in more than one way. God, have i ever said how against her position I am? Well, I think I haven't said it enough. She doesn't really talk about it that much, thankfully._

 _They all didn't notice me yet._

 _I started walking towards them. But, before I got remotely close to them, they all snapped their heads towards me. All at the same time too…_

 _With very blank expressions, their eyes seemed void of any emotions at that._

 _How very cryptic._

 _They all started walking to me. In unison. Why, oh why did it have to be in unison?_

 _As they got closer to me… their skin started to decay… falling apart after every step._

 _Forget this being cryptic, this is completely scary._

 _The closer they got to me, the more the started to fall apart. They started to resemble the infected more and more…_

 _"You can't save them." I heard a voice say. But I couldn't see anyone_

 _My legs still wouldn't budge no matter how hard I was trying. And believe me, I was trying pretty hard. But, I may have been trying a bit too hard. Since I fell on my back because of it._

 _Since they were getting closer, I decided to test out my arms. And just my luck, they were actually working to. So, I did the only thing a self respecting man would do…_

 _….._

 _….._

 _I turned around and started to crawl as fast as I could. Right to the other door. On the other side of the room._

 _And as I started doing, I heard my name being said oh so eerily in the background. Then the voice came back._

 _"Matthew." Is what it said. Over and over again. In this cold and unfeeling voice. I looked over my shoulder to see how far they were. They were getting closer and closer to me. But, I was also getting closer to the door._

 _I managed to crawl towards the door. I used the handle on the door for support to get up. My legs felt like they weren't even there. So, I just shifted all my weight on the door on hopes it would open. Yet, it didn't open. So, I tried to pull it but as I did, I fell over._

 _On my back once again. Except this time, the infected were looming over me. I was gonna get torn to shreds. But, what was really hurting was the fact that I couldn't help any of them. Everyone of them, were turned into these things. I would have replaced them just so they could be safe. Even Noland and Wade, I was raised by them all and they're all close to me. But then I heard that voice come again._

 _" Your need to protect and help those close to you, is what will kill you, Matthew." What in the hell does that mean? I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening. I look back at the closed door, which is now open. I didn't expect what I saw either._

 _It was me… except the me that I saw was more different._

 _The me I saw was much more paler than me. His eyes were much more dead and void of life. His hair was much more ruffled and unkempt than mine. But what really stuck out to me was the gaping… stab wound on his stomach… or my stomach?_

 _Then, it flashed into another version of me. This version of me seemed to have a surprised look on his face. Like he didn't expect what happened to him. But, what caused this? Was he in a fight? Or was it out of the blue? Except this one had a gunshot wound right on his left shoulder. Or, I had a gunshot wound on my shoulder?_

 _Then, what really disturbed me was when I saw another version of myself. Except this one was less like the others. It was decaying, with yellow teeth, my eyes were pupiless, flesh torn and patches of skin gone and something really noticeable. It was a bite mark. Right on my forearm as clear as day._

 _I couldn't stand looking at this. Looking at me like this. I turned away, right back to the infected looking over me. Then the voice had came back. Spectacular._

 _"This is what awaits you, Matthew. Save yourself before it is too late. You can't protect everyone." The voice echoes._

 _So, I should just isolate myself then?_

 _Then, the infected over began to moan and groan. They were animate again. Then with a swift strike, I got punched right in the left cheek by one of them. It was a pretty strong hit, I felt pretty dazed and my eyes started glaze over._

 _"But, don't expect to die with those who you've known for so long. You will find them soon enough. Try to rescue them… to protect them… and you'll end up just like this. Don't engage."_

 _Wait, what? Who are they? What does any of this mean?_

 _"You're going to die, Matthew. It's your fate." The infected hissed over me. And It started to close in on me. It's mouth was opening, baring it's teeth._

 _The voice makes another return, except this time it sounded more angry. Much more forceful, like it was commanding me to listen to it. "You can't stop fate." The voice says._

 ***END OF DREAM SEQUENCE***

My eyes shot open with a stinging feeling on my cheek. I hear a quick gasp from someone. I quickly cup it to relieve some of the pain. Must have fell asleep meditating, something my mom got me hooked on. I felt surprised and disturbed about what I just saw. But, that's not all that shocked me either.

"When you get hit in your dreams, you get hit for real." I say in a bewildered voice.I look up and see Eli and Tabatha looking over me. They all seemed green, I quickly checked my eyes and felt my goggles on. I took them off my eyes and rested them on my head. Eli was shaking his right hand, then gives me a thumbs up. Gee, these two are my friends.

"You alright, Mattie?" Tabatha says, with a concerned voice, while shoving Eli. Yeah, everything's cool, I just got told I was gonna die in a dream. Just peachy.

Eli reaches out his hand, I grab it and get up."I've been calling your name for two minutes, Strags. You feelin' alright?" He says. So you decide that hitting me would be a good idea.

I rub my cheek, he could have broke my jaw. "Just had a weird dream, I'm alright. Thanks for asking, Tabatha." I say, dismissively. Probably just something I ate. Tabatha takes this excuse, waves goodbye and walks off.

Eli scoffs."Probably that meditation garbage, I still can't believe you buy that. Fate and what not, pfft" Eli, all knowingly. Never actually thought of fate like that…

I look around, but can't see Wade, Noland or Troy."Where are the others?" I ask.

Eli starts scratching the back of his head. "They took off a while ago, out looking through a pharmacy or some shit." The mouth this guy has is pretty colorful." And, your mom is in her tent."

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later." I say. Before I go, Eli takes a hold of my shoulder, and pulls me close.

"Dude, If anythings the matter, you can talk to me." He says, seriously. I doubt he would understand anyway.

"Thanks for the interest, but i'm alright, really." I say, once again dismissively.

He nods, then walks off after Tabatha. I rub my eyes. Things were still a bit blurry.

I start to walk towards my moms tent.

"Fate….." The word plays over and over in my head. Maybe she would know about the dream. She dabbles in this sort of thing.

I open the tent and see my mom. She was rummaging through her bag for something. I walk up to her as she noticed me.

She gave me a warming smile. "Hi, Mattie. What can I do for you?" She ask.

How would I break this to her? "What does...um...getting chased, being trapped and uh, dying mean in a dream?" I ask as innocently as possible. Please don't look to much into it.

"Welp,it usually means that..." She momentarily pauses and thinks. Come on, come on.

"For death, it means change. Endings or new beginnings." Just swell, really.

She continues." Being chased, would mean that you're feeling threatened by something." Spectacular.

"Finally, being trapped would mean your inability to escape or make the right choice, I believe." Fan-fucking-tactic. The dream is making more and more sense.

"Thanks." I say, sternly, while getting out the tent. I may have said that more harshly than I originally intended.

"Matthew, is there something you want to talk about?" I hear her call out. But, I still don't stop.

I walk to the middle of the campsite, get to the campfire which is not yet light, and sit next it.

Fate is unavoidable, inevitable, basically you can't stop it from happening apparently. So, what does that mean about me. I see a shard of glass on the ground and pick it up. I look into it and see my reflection on it.

I was wearing a burgundy undershirt, with the sleeves rolled up to my elbow. Over that I was wearing a grey tee shirt with a black handprint on it, covering most of the right side. Also, I was wearing dark blue jeans, with black converses. I had on a single strap, plain black, back pack. I also put a metal badge on it, of a face that wasn't smiling or frowning, just making a face. I blew a strand of hair out of my face. I haven't brooded in a while.

"Eli told me about brooding. Something about…the things called emo's I think..." I say, rather boredly. This isn't really helping.

I look up and see Wade, Troy, and Noland walking towards me. Must've gotten back from the construction site. Let's hope they didn't come back empty handed.

"Eli, get your ass over here, you're coming with us!" He says, demandingly. That's the Noland that I know. Eli had stopped talking to Tabatha and ran towards Noland.

"Gotcha, front and center, sir!" Eli says, jokingly. Noland didn't seem to think it was funny, giving Eli a harsh glare.

"Tabatha, keep watch of the site with Serena." He orders. Tabatha quickly nods and goes to her tent.

Then he turns his attention to me and walks over. Oh boy, this is gonna be good." You're comin' with us to, Straggler." He says. Actually, more like demands it to be honest.

Hmph, not likely. "Not really up to it now, maybe later Noland." He roughly grabs me by the arm and yanks me up.

"Did you think I was asking?" He hisses, venomously. Point taken. What did I expect for him to say.

No point in fighting him now." Can't blame me for trying, eh?" He tosses me to the others. Sheesh, what happened to him out there? He picks up my backpack and throws it to me. I sling it over my shoulder and get with the rest of the group.

We walk off to the nearest pharmacy.

"So, did you find anything?" Eli asks, curiously.

Noland keeps looking forward " see what we can find with more people." Troy says. The man of few words has spoken.

"Noland had decided to do this. Brilliant idea, I say." Wade says, what a surprise. Noland, however, keep walking forward.

He turns his head while walking." Not like I wanted to, either. We just needed more people to look." He quickly says, before turning around again.

This is gonna be a fun day.

We made sure to get there from behind houses. Wouldn't want to get seen, that might get ugly.

There were some broken fences in most of the backyards so it was pretty to pass through the back. Just the way I like it.

I saw a back door leading to the pharmacy. I run up the stairs to the door and tried to open it. Except when I tried it was locked. I look back and see everyone waiting for me to open it. I had a bright idea on how to open the door.

"I got this!" I say, proudly. I take a deep breath and raise my foot. With all my might I try to kick down the door...

Which probably wasn't enough since the impact made me fling myself back, off the stairs. Landing me on the ground. I groan in pain. I turn over to everyone else and see Wade facepalm, Eli laughing uncontrollably, and Troy and Noland just blankly staring. Their faces were screaming "did he really try that".

Eli walks past me and to door. "You could have just tried this instead." He pulls out a shiv and starts to pick the lock. I pulled myself up and look at him." Where's the fun in that?" I say.

Eli managed to pick the lock, and walks in. I still stand in place while everyone else . I felt someone hit my head, I grunt in pain. Turning around, I see no one.

"Dumbass" Noland says, while walking in the pharmacy. I have a feeling that it was him.

Regardless, I quickly ran to catch up with them. Entering the back door, I saw everyone creeping around, checking metal shelves and cabinets. I made sure to close the door as quietly as possible.

The place looked pretty runned down. Some shelves were either rusted or broken. It wasn't pitch black, but, it wasn't bright either. And, it smelt like death. Like someone literally died in here. God, I gotta find out where it is.

I start to look around to find the smell. I smell a trail of stink coming a door on the other side of the room. I slowly creep towards it. I slowly open the door to see what was in. When I saw what was inside… it didn't really surprise me.

I got to see a what the fungus does to your body when you have it for so long. In other words, some poor sap got bit in a bathroom a long time ago. Noland walked behind me, and saw what I was looking at.

He took a look at me. "Honestly, I only feel bad about the place he got bit in. Poor bastard got it when he was taken a shit.." He says, jokingly. That is something i'm not used to. I nod my head in agreement and shut the door. We all look around some more and I see the door leading to the front of the pharmacy. "I'm gonna look in the front." I tell him.

"Don't kill yourself." He says, and I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or he was serious. Regardless, I walk towards it.

My hand goes to touch the door, but, before I do I hear a voice. "I'm gonna check out the back, Joel." An effeminate voice says. My eyes go wide as the door begins to open.

It revealed a girl around my age. She had green eyes, with reddish brown hair put in a ponytail. Fair skin with freckles and a scar on her eyebrow. She was wearing what looked like a red shirt with a black undershirt. With blue jeans and red converses. With a blue and...beige backpack… I'm not good with colors.

We sort of just stare at each other with wide eyes, clearly surprised to see the other. Honestly, she's the first person I've seen around my age. I should probably break the tension. I open my mouth to speak.

"Hello, pret-"

However, my attempt at that was stopped. Since she decided to give me a right hook to my face.

I literally spun around, clutching my right cheek. "Damnit! That hurt like a-" That was cut off to. As she pulled out a pistol from her side. Seeing this my eyes widened even more.

"Shit!" I say, rolling out of the way, landing on my back, my heart almost literally beating out of my chest. As she retreats to the front. "We're not the only ones here!" I say to everyone else. I turn over and see Eli, Wade, Troy, and Noland run through the door. I catch my breath and get up and start running with them. I quickly hide behind the cashier counter and scan the area.

I see Eli and Wade hiding behind a few shelves. I see Troy reloading his rifle, and Noland whispering something in his ear. I have a clear shot of this one guy. Presumably, this must be the "Joel" character.

He had graying black hair, with hazel eyes. He also sported a rather scruffy beard. He was wearing a brownish button up shirt, with blue jeans and brownish black boots. With a brown backpack and a broken watch on his wrist. Someone should seriously tell him that thing is broken. I quickly pull out my bow, and take an arrow from my quiver.

I start to draw back, but, at the last second, before I let go, "Joel" had seen me. I let go and the arrow shot towards him but he ducked and it hit the wall behind him. I pulled out another arrow and drew back, I let go and shot it at him again but this time he hid behind a shelf. I attached the bow to my backpack and crawled from the counter, next to Wade.

Eli, seeing this "Joel" character jumped from the shelf and tried to blast him with his shotgun, however, he rolled out of the way. "Joel" pulled out a 10mm pistol from his side and shot Eli's shotgun out of his hand. Eli stumbled back from the recoil.

Noland, jumped from his hiding spot and pulled out a rifle, he started to size up "Joel" for a shot. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the girl I saw had shot his shoulder. He cursed, and dropped the rifle. "Joel", seeing Noland turned around and looked towards him, Wade, taking this opportunity, sprung from his hiding spot and hit "Joel" with a forearm to the back of the head. "Joel" stumbled a bit, but quickly recovered and fired back with a rough left hand to the face. The force caused Wade to fall to one knee. The "Joel" guy, then grabbed Wade by the head and slammed it through the glass of a freezer.

Troy managed to sneak behind Eli and grabbed ahold of her. He pulled out a machete. "Sorry, sweetheart."He says, grimly. The girl starts to wildly kick and struggle.

"Get off of me, chickenshit!" She shouts. Wait, chickenshit?

She manages to bite Troy as hard as she can and he lets go. She stabs him with a switchblade in the leg and runs off.

I stick my head out and pull out my pistol. I aim my gun and start shooting at her. One bullet shoot a bottle next to her. Another bullet shot a freezer behind her. Then, I tried shooting at her another time but that shot a bag of bread off a shelf.

She sees Noland again and jumps on his back. He starts swinging her around on his back. He quickly ducks and she flips over him and lands on her back. He gets back up and gives her a good kick to her side. Then, turns his attention to "Joel".

"Joel" is now on top of Eli, repeatedly punching him. Noland gets behind him, unsuspectingly, and throws "Joel" off of Eli. Him and "Joel" start to slug it out. Noland gives "Joel" a wicked right hand and "Joel" starts to stumble. Noland brings up another hand, but, winces in pain and grabs his shoulder. "Joel" taking the opportunity, gives Noland a kick to the gut, as Noland bends over from the pain. "Joel" gives Noland a kick to the face with his boot as Noland sprawls to the floor, clutching his face.

Troy manages to ram "Joel" into another door. He starts giving "Joel" a couple punches to the gut. He even connects with a punch to the face. Troy trying to give him another punch, throws his right fist out, but, "Joel" ducks it and Troy smashes his fist through the door.

"Joel" grabs ahold of a piece of 2x4 wood, and slams it over Troy's head, but Troy is still struggling. He grabs another piece of wood and slams it over his head again. This time he goes down.

"Joel" quickly goes to Wade and picks him up by the head. He then slams his neck in an exposed piece of glass from the freezer he slammed him through earlier. He starts to gag, and holds his neck.

I take the chance of a lifetime and run to Joel. I shoot for the leg and grab a hold of one. I pull out a switchblade. I raise it in the air and slam it down on his hip.

I stab him once. He winces in pain.

I stab him again. He yelps in pain.

I stab him again. He doesn't say anything, I feel him grab a hold of me. He picks me up and throws me into a shelf. He picks me up again and tosses me over a counter. I roll off the counter and land on my back. I groan in pain.

I turn over and see the girl and "Joel" run out the back door Eli had picked. I have only one thought coursing through my head at the moment.

WHO IN THE HELL WERE THOSE TWO?


End file.
